Blair's Blog

In my earlier post, I mentioned that Brenda’s work at the Aerospace Museum of Calgary this summer has revolved largely around the preparations for the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s (CWHM) Lancaster bomber western tour. On Tuesday, when the Lanc arrived in Calgary, there was a reception for the CWHM crew and local dignitaries as well as a number of veterans. Once Brenda’s duties at the door were complete, I joined her and we spent the pleasant summer’s evening chatting with some of the staff and volunteers from Hamilton and touring through the Lancaster.

There were only about 150 or so in attendance at the reception, so there was plenty of opportunity to spend a bit of time in the aircraft, the CWHM personnel were unfailingly pleasant and knowledgeable and more than willing to answer any and all questions. They even put up with Brenda’s cheekiness! (Go ahead, ask Brenda how to tell the difference between a Canadian-built Lancaster and a British-built one.)

It was quite the fine evening and a rare chance to have a really good look at one of only two remaining airworthy, operational Lancasters in the world. Although the Mynarski Lanc is a museum piece, the fact that it is actively used and flown lends realism to the historical artifact – it smells of fuel and hydraulic oil. And, as we discovered today when the Lanc overflew our house, the sound of those four roaring engines is unlike any other aircraft today. The sense of history is profound when you consider the 10’s of thousands of young men that risked or gave up their lives in Lancasters.